Sky Fall

With the most crucial week of the race looming, suddenly the race leader’s team looks vulnerable

By Joe Lindsey

Mick Rogers saw the opportunity, could almost sense the toasted legs behind him. With 30 kilometers left to race in the 13th stage of the Tour de France, the pack had already splintered under nearly 80 kilometers of aggressive racing in crosswinds from the Omega Pharma-QuickStep and Belkin teams.

Although several key riders, most notably Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde, were caught out by the early move, a sizable peloton including most of the rest of the overall contenders had regrouped and was fighting for shelter in the buffeting side winds. It felt more like an early stage of Paris-Nice, known for flat days that turn frenetic in crosswinds, than a likely sprint finish in the Tour de France.

That made it the perfect moment to turn the screws even more, and when Rogers did, one of the teams in trouble was Sky. Although Chris Froome is undoubtedly strong, his team looks vulnerable and his opponents gain strength and morale just as the race is about to enter its most important phase.

“I saw that most of the guys were in trouble,” said the veteran Saxo Bank lieutenant. I looked at (teammate Daniele) Bennati, he looked at me and we nodded.” The duo hit the front and smashed the pace, immediately creating chaos behind.

Overall leader Chris Froome was one of the riders in trouble. “He was just in the wrong position,” said Sky manager Dave Brailsford afterward. Well, kind of, and partly self-inflicted. Brailsford said Froome was right next to Omega Pharma’s Mark Cavendish, but when Cav sprinted across the gap to the leaders, Froome hesitated. “He got caught in no-man’s land a bit,” continued Brailsford. “Instead of making a massive effort, he sat up and said, ‘Stay calm; I’m going to wait for my team.’”

But the team wasn’t there—not right away, anyway. “Just as Saxo was going, I was stuck behind a few people, and so was Froomey,” said a downcast Geraint Thomas, who’d been patrolling the front all day for Sky and keeping Froome well protected to that point. Ian Stannard was on the other side of the pack. “There were seconds we had to wait and that was enough for the gap to open. Once that happens, it’s tough to close it. You have to get some guys tracking through pretty quickly and close it immediately. And it didn’t quite happen there.”

In a few seconds, the entire complexion of the race changed as an elite group of 14 riders, including the top-10 duos of Alberto Contador and Roman Kreuziger (Saxo Bank) and Belkin’s Bauke Mollema and Laurens Ten Dam, slipped away from the pursuit.

With Saxo, Belkin and Omega all represented with their respective captains, the three teams that had animated most of the race forced a late, potentially race-altering selection with every other squad exhausted and on the defensive. That, said Belkin’s Sep Vanmarcke, was always the plan.

“Long before the Tour started, I had stress for this stage,” he said, “because in this stage maybe we make a difference for Bauke and Laurens.” Omega Pharma, too, had designs on splitting the field from the beginning, but Vanmarcke insisted there was no overt collusion, nor had they known Valverde flatted and was in trouble not long after they started their second major acceleration.

Nor did Saxo Bank target Froome specifically in its late-race aggression. “You never plan that stuff,” said Rogers. “We never saw [Froome] was vulnerable, but the timing was there, the whole team was there and I think a lot of guys were tired today. So we just went for it.”

Other than the unlucky, like Valverde, teams mostly weren’t so much caught out tactically as just hurting. Every director and rider I spoke with knew the dangers today, knew to be alert and stay in front. “I think it was just pretty tough to follow everything all day,” said Garmin-Sharp director Charly Wegelius, who put four riders, including protected co-captains Dan Martin and Andrew Talansky, up front after the first major split but whose troops missed the last, Saxo-led charge.

“I was aware there would be a risk,” said Wegelius. “I didn’t expect the other teams to have the courage to do it so early.”

The early aggression turned out to be the key to cracking Sky. Saxo Bank didn’t play a part in the first efforts, so they were a bit fresher late in the race to make their own. And Sky had followed all day, only to find itself outgunned in the most crucial moment.

Without Vasil Kiryienka, eliminated on time on Stage 8, and Edvald Boasson Hagen, victim to a crash on Stage 12, Sky was without two of their best rouleurs. Thomas is still riding through pain with a fractured pelvis, and Richie Porte and Kanstantsin Siutsou were dropped even before Saxo began their move.

The attrition hasn’t all been on the road: Mick Rogers, the man starting the move for Saxo, was one of the key domestiques last year for Brad Wiggins’s historic win before changing teams at the end of 2012.

“Already a few times [Sky] look not as strong as last year,” noted Vanmarcke. Without Kiryienka and Boassen Hagen, “it’s normal that they will look a bit weaker in these stages,” he said.

So is Sky in trouble? The closest anyone came to claiming that was Sky’s own Thomas. “Yeah, for sure after [last Sunday] they would have got a bit of confidence from that,” he said of Froome’s challengers. But he added, “We know when we pull together we’re just as strong as anyone else.”

Some of the time losses today, such as Porte’s, may be strategic, saving strength for the more crucial days ahead. And, Wegelius noted, “Sky was put under pressure today by teams that aren’t usually direct rivals.” With Quick Step focused on Cavendish, Sky likely won’t face their strength in the mountains. And with Movistar’s devastating losses today, the team will regroup around Nairo Quintana, but a Valverde attack won’t draw out Sky like it would have if he was still in second overall.

And of course, there’s still the issue of the formidable Froome himself, who’s been able to match every attack in the mountains and was the only rider even close to TT winner Tony Martin. “We still lead by 2:25,” said Brailsford [2:28, actually]. “There’s still the TT, plenty of mountains and a lot of racing left.”

But starting Sunday, every day of the race will see opportunities to attack Sky; emboldened by last Sunday and today’s events, Froome’s challengers will take the race to him. What just a day or so ago seemed a fait accompli is now far more open than expected.

Wegelius laughed when asked about whether today changed the conventional wisdom that Froome had the Tour won. “Well, the only conventional wisdom is coming from journalists who keep asking me that question,” he said with a wry smile.

“They came and asked me that Sunday and the race went to pieces. They came and asked me this morning, and look what happened. I never heard anyone from the teams saying the race is over; it’s only been journalists. So yes, come and see me [tomorrow] morning and we’ll have an exciting day.”

About Boulder Report

Boulder, Colorado-based contributor Joe Lindsey offers investigative journalism, analysis and humor about cycling. A popular slogan in this cycling and university town is "Keep Boulder Weird." Lindsey's certainly doing his part.